


Gone and Thrown It All Away

by Va1kyrie



Category: Cable and Deadpool, Marvel (Comics)
Genre: Additional Warnings In Author's Note, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Child Abuse, Child Neglect, CollegeStudent!Nathan, Highschool AU, M/M, Minor Age Gap, Minor Drug Use, Minor to Moderate Drug Use, Teen!Wade, Underage Drinking, physical child abuse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-29
Updated: 2018-10-28
Packaged: 2018-12-21 05:19:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 13,305
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11937147
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Va1kyrie/pseuds/Va1kyrie
Summary: Everyone is convinced Wade had something to do with the death of Rosaline Wilson. His own mother.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Age notes for this fiction due to the minor age gap.  
> Wade is seventeen and Nathan is twenty at the start of this fiction.

The first day back at school after a long summer is usually at least a little exciting, but not this time. Not for Wade Wilson. He trudged through the front doors of the school, eyes down, pretending not to care that everyone was staring at him.

"That's him."

"Really?"

"Yeah that's the guy."

"The one who killed his mom? Jesus."

"Yeah he's in my math class."

"Why the fuck isn't he locked up?"

Wade made straight for the bathrooms and threw himself into a stall. He leaned his head back against the wall and took a long breath. Outside his stall he could hear other lads talking about him and his mom. They didn't know anything. Wade could feel the anger rise up in the pit of his stomach. The boys were laughing about what they had heard on the news and in the papers.

"I bet he just got sick of her going in and touching him at night."

Before they could laugh, Wade was out of his stall, grabbing one of the boys, slamming their head down on the porcelain sink. Shouts rang out around him as the friends reacted. One threw a punch but Wade dodged. He kicked the boy in the shin and brought his knee up to break the boy's nose when he bent from the kick. Someone grabbed the back of Wade's hoodie and he drew his arm back, slamming the elbow of the face of the person behind. The boys in front of him froze and looked at him, eyes wide, scared. Wait, not at him, behind him. Wade turned around to see who he'd hit and his mouth dropped open.

"Oh shit..."

James Howlett, the new Headmaster of Redwood Highschool was standing behind him, his cheek split open, blood coursing down his face onto his shirt.

“Come on,” he snarled, and used the grip he still had on Wade’s hoodie to drag the boy out of the bathroom with a shout of "go to the nurse's office" to the other boys. He was silent as he dragged Wade into his office, all the students in the halls watching the scene. He slammed the door behind him and dropped Wade into the chair in front of his desk and simply turned away from him. Was Howlett ignoring him? Wade tilted his head to try and look at Howlett’s reflection in the window. Howlett had his eyes closed, tapping his nose rhythmically with his fist. Was he counting?

“You’re in school ten goddamn minutes, Wilson,” Howlett said slowly, eyes still closed, trying to keep his temper even. Wade didn’t answer. He just shrugged. Howlett noticed the shrug as he finally turned around. “Ah yes, this is why I teach. Teenagers and their shrugging.”

He sat behind the desk and put a tissue to his cheek to wipe off some of the blood. He took another breath before speaking. “Listen kid you’ve had a hard few months—”

Wade scoffed.

“—but you can’t be starting fights just because you can,” Howlett barrelled on. “I should be suspending you for that fight. For hitting the fucki— the headmaster. On the _first_ day! Do you have _anything_ to say, Wilson?”

“Yeah, can I go now?”

“Don’t be stupid, of course you can’t. Why’d you start the fight?”

“’Cause they’re nerds, they’ve got weird glasses, one of them called me queer, I dunno pick one. Can I go now?”

“Wilson, you’re a smart kid, I’m told. You should know this type of behaviour isn’t how you solve things.” Wade didn’t reply. “Your father has been telling me you’re acting out at home too, since your mother’s passing. That’s understandable Wade, but…”

Howlett sighed. Wade wasn’t even looking at him. He got up and left the room through a door behind his desk, a door Wade knew led to a small room where parents usually sat waiting for the headmaster. He’d sat in there a dozen or more times with his parents over the last few years. Howlett was barely gone two minutes before he returned and pointed at Wade. “You’re making me do this.”

Wade tensed. “Do what?” he sneered with false bravado.

Howlett held the door open and a tall man stepped in. “This is Nathan. He’s going to help you this year.”

Wade didn’t move his head to look up at Nathan, the movement beneath him. “Help me? With what? I don’t need anyone’s help.”

Howlett bent down so he was eye level with the sitting boy. “Wade, you lost your mother, on top of the problems you were having last semester, you need someone’s help and it’s okay. You’re going to take Nathan’s help whether you like it or not, because your father and I have already talked about it—”

“Are you serious?” Wade was out of his seat. “I don’t need your help and I don’t need this guy’s help, and I don’t need either of your fucking pity. I can handle this shit on my own, I’m fine. Leave me al—”

“Yeah yeah yeah,” Howlett said, waving away Wade’s protests. Both he and Nathan were blocking the doors and he knew there wasn’t a chance Wade would try pushing passed him, not after Wade hit him in the bathrooms. “Listen we know you’re a big tough guy who can handle all life throws at him, but for you to stay in this school, you are going to do this. You’ll meet Nathan every day. Every single day. I am not trying to make your life harder than it is. This is the only thing we can think of because your father told me you’re also refusing to go to a grief counsellor.”

“I don’t want to go to a grief counsellor because I don’t need one! People die and it’s no one’s fault, I know that already. So I don’t need one telling me shit I already know. I’m going home, move.”

Nathan didn’t stop him and moved out of his way, but he smiled at him. It was a kind smile, it made Wade frown. “I can help, Wade. I know what a death in the family feels like, I know that anger.”

“Yeah? And what kind of counsellor are you?”

 “I’m not a counsellor, just a student from the university. I’m part of a college society thing. Heard of those big brother programs?”

“You’re not serious?” Wade made a pained sigh and looked at the headmaster for a second. “I’m not—”

“I know you’re not, the society I’m in is just like that,” Nathan cut across him. “I’ve lost a family member too, so we start off with that in common and hopefully we become friends.”

Wade picked up his bag with a scornful laugh. “Yeah don’t hold your breath Nate.”

Howlett shouted at Wade as he left the room. “If you cut class, Wilson, you’re in detention this weekend.”

“See you in detention then,” Wade said and left the school.

As he walked down the front steps, he pulled a packet of cigarettes out of his bag and lit up. He took a long drag and started walking towards the local pool hall. The pool hall was the spot used by the kids who cut class. All the staff there were stoners, who let kids buy some of the softer types of drugs they sold in their back room. It stayed open until late and they sold alcohol to minors, perfect for what Wade had needed these last few months since his mother’s death.

And best of all, the people there didn’t treat him like a criminal. He could chill out, smoke a joint, have a drink, play some pool and stay out all night if he needed. It wasn’t like anyone would miss him at home, but that was something he preferred not to dwell on, that’s what the drink was for. He put his earphones in and pulled his hood up to protect himself from the rain when a car pulled up.

“Where you heading Wade?” said a voice making Wade sigh and pull his earphones out.

Wade bent down to see who it was. “Nate…” Wade rubbed his eyes, tiredly. “Just leave me alone, man, come on. I’m not asking for much here. I’ll tell Howlett we talked, you’re off the hook.”

Nate smirked, but it was still somehow a kind look on him. “Do I look like the kind of guy who’ll just leave you to it? Are you going to the pool hall?”

“How did you--?”

“Not the only one who grew up in this town, Wade. Get in. I’ll drive you there; it’s going to rain,” he said and pushed the car door open for Wade. “Just so I know you’re safe.”

“You could be a creep. Your car is crap enough for it.”

“If I am, by the look of your Headmaster’s face you could probably take me. Probably. I do work out. And there’s nothing wrong with my car. It’s probably older than you are. Have a little respect.”

Wade laughed, despite himself. “Uh huh, right,” he said. But he relented, getting into the car. The sky was darkening fast. The still lit cigarette was the only act of rebellion.

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warning for Child Abuse

Wade put his feet up on the dashboard of the car, smoking comfortably. Nathan rolled down the window so the smoke didn’t build up and make it impossible to drive. He wasn’t sure if cigarette smoke did that, but his parents had trained him to hate smoking enough, that even the smell of burnt tobacco made him feel queasy. He didn’t think Wade would take the hint but he did, and rolled down his own window, flicking the ash into the rain outside. _So the kid isn’t a complete asshole_ , Nathan thought.

“So will you stay in the pool hall all day?” Nathan asked the boy. “And put on your seatbelt in my car. I’m not getting done by the cops because you’re feeling cool.”

Wade smirked and sat up straight, his feet on the floor. He took the last puff of the cigarette and threw the butt out the window. “If I say that I am, are you going to tell Howlett?”

Nathan shook his head. “Not my problem you don’t wanna go to school. It’s not what I’m here to help you with.”

“You’re not really going to try that are you?” Wade groaned and pushed his dark hair out of his eyes to look at Nathan.

Nathan shrugged, not really sure how to answer in a way that Wade would find comforting, or at least useful. Losing a family member is hard, incredibly hard, especially for a teenager who was already having problems at school. He wanted to show Wade that he understood; Nathan had lost his mother too, it was why Howlett had brought him specifically in to deal with Wade.

“Listen, I’m no grief counsellor,” he spoke slowly, eyes on the road. “I’m just gonna try and help to the best of my abilities. It’ll probably end up that we never talk about your mom or anything that… raw.” He noticed Wade looked out the fogged up window at the mention of his mother. He was such a typical teenager, Nathan remarked to himself. The kid was just adamant in his pretence that none of this affected him. “But who knows? We might become friends. Like umm... Got any hobbies?”

“I do MMA,” Wade replied not looking away from the window, watching the droplets race to the bottom of the window.

“Mixed Martial Arts?” Nathan raised a brow. “Bit young for that, aren’t you?”

“I’m seventeen.”

“I just thought you had to be a legal adult to compete,” Nathan replied, holding a hand up. He didn’t want to start a fight because the teenager thought he was an adult. “Is that what happened to Logan at the school?”

“Yeah maybe,” Wade said, finally tearing his eyes away from the droplets. “Why do you call him Logan?”

“It’s what his partner calls him. Nothing special.”

“His partner? You know him outside of… You actually know him? I thought you were with a society or some shit.”

“I am, but I know his partner from college. She’s a tutor. That’s why I’m here and not someone else.”

“Oh.” Wade looked around and picked up his bag, realising where they were. “You can drop me off here.”

Nathan looked around; they were still three or four blocks away. The rain on the bonnet was so heavy it sounded like rocks in a tumble drier. “Wade, come on, I’ll drop you there. It’s pouring.”

“No, seriously, big guy, I’ll walk from here,” Wade shook his head. “That’s what the hood is for. Let me out.”

Nathan pulled over to the side of the road and Wade hopped out. “Thanks for the ride, Nate.” Before Nathan could say goodbye, Wade had slammed the door and pulled his hood up, running down the street. He watched the kid run through the rain. He shook his head in wonder.

“Weird kid,” he said and started to merge with traffic again. “Never been called Nate in my life… Nathan is already pretty short. Do you need to shorten it more?”

**

It took Wade another ten minutes to get to the pool hall. He was drenched, his hood moulded to his head, any books in his bag rendered useless by the rain. He threw the door open and left his bag at the first pool table he came to, his hoodie quickly following.

“First he tells us to go fuck ourselves, that he’s never coming back and now the kid is stripping for us,” called Neena from behind the bar. “You know you’re still too young for that, right?”

Wade smirked and picked up a pool cue. He had always had a thing for Neena. She was beautiful at twenty-five, tall and black, with her natural curly hair in a perfectly tamed afro. She had vitiligo, a large patch of white skin in a diamond shape around her left eye. She was gorgeous. Wade used to flirt with her a lot, but Neena had no time for him, eventually threatening to punch his balls all the way up to his eyes if he didn’t stop hinting that they should hook up. Wade stopped immediately of course, fearing for his future sex life.

“Yeah, its practise for getting through law school,” he quipped as he put a coin into the pool table. The hall was mostly empty, apart from two older kids playing at the back. He set up the table and readied the cue to break.

“Heard about your mom,” Neena said, sitting on a bar stool beside the table.

There was a sharp clink as the balls scattered. “Yup,” Wade didn’t even look at her.

“Don’t wanna talk about it?”

“Nope.”

“Cool, wanna drink?” She got up and moved to the bar again.

“Vodka coke.”

“You got money this time?”

“Yeah, promise.”

“Coming up.”

Wade sat and drank all day, barely speaking to any of the other customers. Neena kept an eye on him but they didn’t speak. He just played game after game, the same moves, the same drinks, even the same expression. At half past nine in the evening, he left without saying a word. And without paying.

“Ugh, that little shit,” she whispered to herself and she put her tips into the till to pay his tab.

Wade pushed his still wet hoodie into his bag, crushing his books. It had stopped raining, but now it was dark and cold. He’d meant to go home earlier but if he was home in the next twenty minutes he’d still be home before his dad and that was all that mattered. He ran most of the way, cutting through gardens and jumping fences. He climbed over the fence into his back garden and froze. There were people in his house. He could see his dad sitting at the kitchen table talking to someone he couldn’t see.

“Shit…” he could hear his voice shake. He looked around for options. He could stay out all night, but he only had five dollars to his name right now, and he was still damp and he would just end up sick and he had to go home some time. He pushed his hair off his face in frustration. His gaze moved over the house. His room was on the second floor, above the kitchen. He hadn’t been able to climb up there since he was a kid, he was too heavy now. He bit his tongue and opened the back door and stepped inside. His dad swivelled around to watch him enter.

“Hello, Wade. Where were you all day?” His father was a big man, six foot five, heavy but all muscle. And Wade was terrified of him.

“I uhh…”

“We were just talking about your first day back, Wade,” Howlett said from the other side of the table. “When you didn’t come home we got worried.”

“Yeah well, I’m home now. No need to worry about me,” Wade tore his eyes away from his dad’s and tried to smile. But Howlett sniffed the air.

“Is that… Wade were you drinking?” The headmaster asked. Wade was certain this man was determined to ruin his life.

“No,” Wade said, begging him to be quiet with his eyes, but his father cut the conversation short. He stood and shook Howlett’s hand.

“Well thank you for coming over, James,” he said, a grateful smile on his face. Wade turned away and got himself a glass of orange juice from the fridge. He knew they were going to talk about him for a few minutes so he may as well.

“It seems we’re going to be talking a lot this year,” Howlett said. “So call any time, Winston.”

They walked to the front door while Wade tried to sneak upstairs before Howlett left. If his dad didn’t see him again, he might be willing to let it slide. Wade had come home late before, smelled of drink before, and he had definitely cut class before. If he just stayed out of his dad’s way, he might be safe.

But he didn’t get far.

The front door closed and Winston turned and looked at Wade as he edged up the stairs. Wade could already see his father’s expression and he still had his back to him. He could feel the fear starting to bubble in his chest. He considered running to his room and locking the door, but if his dad wanted to get in, he would and it would just make everything worse.

“Wade get the fuck down here.”

“Look, Dad—”

“Get the _fuck_. _Down_ here.” Winston nudged the blinds in the front window out of the way to see if the Headmaster had driven off yet. He had.

Wade walked slowly down the stairs until he was suddenly within arm’s reach of his father. Winston grabbed his arm and threw him into the kitchen. Wade kept his feet under him, his hand going to the counter to keep him upright. He turned to see his father advancing on him.

“You think you can embarrass me like that? Coming in late? Drinking?” He started speaking quietly but it ended in a roar. He had Wade cornered against the cabinets. He had a hard grip on Wade’s upper arm, definitely leaving a bruise.

“I’m sorry I thought I’d be home before you—” Winston cut him off, punching the cabinet behind Wade’s head. Wade flinched hard, expecting the punch to connect. Winston almost smirked. Finally, some obedience. He took Wade’s face in his hands, fingers squeezing into his cheeks.  

“Listen to me here boy,” his voice was quiet, scary. “I don’t wanna hear from you. Not a word. Not from school. Not from your fucking headmaster. Your mother ain’t around to deal with you anymore. Don’t expect me to have the same patience to deal with your bullshit as her.” He slapped Wade’s cheek and let go of him, pushing the boy away from him. “Get out of my sight.”

Wade couldn’t get out of the kitchen quick enough, closing the door to his room and shoving his drawers in front of the door to barricade it. He flung himself into bed and pulled his duvet over his head, still fully clothed. He blinked away the tears. None of this shit happened when his mom was alive. He rubbed his arm to hopefully stay away any bruises that might form and just held himself, breathing steady breaths. He wasn’t crying tonight.

**_X GON’ GIVE IT TO YA—_ **

Wade nearly jumped out of his skin when his phone rang, shutting off the ringtone as quick as possible before his dad heard. He had almost been asleep. He checked who was calling but didn’t recognise the number. “Who the fuck is this?”

“Wade? It’s Nathan, just checking you got home okay.”

“Oh my god, dude just-- How the fuck did you get this number?”

“Logan, he gave it to me.”

“Well fuck him and don’t call me.”

“Are you okay?” Holy shit, the guy actually sounded worried about him despite everything.

“Yeah, I’m fine, Nate, just leave me alone,” he said, trying to end the call without sounding like he was crying. If only Nate knew, the poor guy would probably be over here already to pick him up. His own seven foot tall gorgeous guardian angel. He hung up while Nate was in mid sentence, just desperately needing to be on his own. He got undressed, still underneath the covers, throwing his damp clothes onto the floor.

He didn’t know how he was going to get up tomorrow.

 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys, no additional notes on this chapter. I'm so sorry this took so long to come out, life has been hectic. It's a big time in Ireland for Feminism, with the campaigning to repeal the act in our constitution that bans abortions, and also for putting forward legislation to protect rape survivors in rural parts of our country and also highlighting the ongoing rape culture in our country. I'm involved in all of these, so as you can imagine my writing often takes a backseat.
> 
> I hope you stick with through this story and if you have any characters you'd like to see thrown in for a cameo, I'd love to hear from you, just as a thank you for sticking with me, coz so far even two chapters in, you guys have had to wait a really long time, and I really appreciate you sticking around to read our two idiots. 
> 
> Much love, and stay safe xx

Nathan had had a late night the night before, dealing with an essay given to him by his global politics professor. It didn’t have to be in for another two weeks but Nathan was the kind of student tutors dreamed of, never late to class, work handed up early or on time, engaged in class but not so much that he was taking time away from other students. Many professors had made a pact between themselves that they were all going to retire the year Nathan Summers graduated. But right now he was asleep, duvet covers pulled up around his ears to keep them warm.

He groaned loudly into his pillow when his phone started to ring on the shelf above him. He reached up to grab it, knocking a book and his money jar off, narrowly missing his head. At least he was awake now.

“Hello?”

“Nathan, the kid didn’t come into school today,” Logan’s voice was rough but he was clearly trying not to take not to take his frustration out on Nathan. “Mind doing a drive by?”

“To his house? Not sure he’ll like that.”

“Tell him he’s allowed to be off school if he sticks by you for the day.”

“He’s not going to go for that, but it’s worth a try,” he replied, throwing the duvet off himself. They said their goodbyes and hung up. It’s too early to be dealing with teen angst, he thought as he pulled a sweater over his head.

He knocked on the door of Wade’s house and stepped back to look up at the house. It was a nice house, small, but nice. The garden was slightly over grown, wild flowers growing at the edge of the fence. It was nice, even if it was unkempt. The door opened to reveal a large man about Nathan’s height, but appeared taller due to the step up into the house.

“Hi I’m Nathan, I’m looking for Wade?”

“He’s at school,” the man started to close the door, but Nathan put his hand to it.

“No, he’s not, I’m just looking for him,” Nathan flashed a calm smile at him. “Is he here?”

The man stepped back and pointed up the stairs. “Check his room,” he said as he went back into the sitting room and closed the door, not giving Nathan time to ask which room was his. Nathan looked around the hall, wondering if he should go up to Wade’s room or if he should just call the teenager and hope for the best, but the house was whisper quiet. Nothing seemed to be moving in this home. It was completely still as if Wade’s mother had only died last week. Even the creak of the stairs sounded too loud.

The bathroom door on the landing on the second floor was laying open, leaving only two other doors that could lead to Wade’s room. One of the doors had a hole in it, probably from a stray frustrated punch. Nathan made an educated guess and knocked on the door.

Wade woke with a jump but took a minute to pull the covers off himself. Who was at the door? It’s not like his father announced himself before barging in. He got up slowly, stopping short of pushing the chest of drawers out of the way.

“Who is it?”

“It’s me. Wanna open up?”

Wade almost laughed. What the fuck was Nathan doing in his house? Had he met his dad? He’d only met the man the day before and he was just injecting himself into Wade’s life. Wade shoved the drawers out of the way of the door and opened it. “What.” It wasn’t even a question.

Nathan looked him up and down, forgetting about the strange sound as soon as he locked eyes with the teen. Wade was barefoot, half naked, a deep scar coming over his right shoulder and up his neck, wearing a pair of black and red shorts, his hair sticking up in all different directions. He looked angry but confused, but that wasn’t what Nathan finally focused on. Wade’s room was dark, it smelled. It looked like it hadn’t been cleaned in months. There were even empty take away cartons littered around his room, probably because no one was up to cooking in this house anymore.

“I’m taking you for lunch,” Nathan replied, tearing his eyes away from the squalor. “Get dressed, Wade.”

“Lunch?” Wade made to slam the door in Nathan’s face. “Get the fuck out of my house.”

Nathan sighed as he stopped a second door from slamming in his face. He pushed it open to see Wade crawl back into bed and pull the covers over his head. Nathan stepped gingerly over the strewn clothes and beer cans to grab the duvet and pull it off him. For a split second, Nathan could see the extent of the scarring on his back. Burns the whole way down his back, discoloured webbing pulled tight over his back, down to his hips, up and around to his neck. Nathan refused to pause or recoil at the sight as Wade practically jumped into a standing position on the bed, now eye height with the stupidly tall Nathan Summers.

“What in the blind fuck do you want?” He half-shouted, not wanting to alert his father who was probably in the sitting room, underneath his room. He was in Nathan’s face, not a centimetre away from his nose. “Why are you making this shit hard? Just tell that stupid hairy hobbit that you tried and I’m hopeless. I just wanna sleep!”

“KEEP IT DOWN UP THERE!” came a shout from downstairs. It made Wade take a pause. After last night with his headmaster, he wasn’t going to embarrass his father so soon again. Maybe he should just leave. Lunch wasn’t a terrible idea. He rubbed his face and sighed heavily.

“I hate you so much,” he said and stepped down from the bed onto the floor. He started kicking through the clothes, looking for something relatively clean. He pulled on a dark red tshirt.

Nathan rolled his eyes and started to leave before Wade started looking for trousers. “I’ll meet you downstairs.”

Wade closed the door and took a long breath. He’d wanted to avoid people today after what happened last night, have a day off from going from the pool hall to that walkway under the bridge where he buys weed to the loading deck at the shopping centre. The same three places he went when he skipped school. He was tired and just wanted to sleep. All the same, he could go for a twenty-piece bucket of chicken nuggets right about now. He had a sweet hangover and chicken nuggets and a bottle of coke always solved them.

He followed Nathan down the stairs, stopping on the last step when Nathan pointed at the wall beside him. Nails poked out in regular patterns, obviously from missing pictures. Nathan wouldn’t know the difference, but to Wade the wall looked bare, almost lonely.

“What happened?”

“My dad took down any of the pictures with my mom in them a couple of weeks after she…” He said, speaking in hushed tones so he wouldn’t disturb his dad again in the sitting room. He shook his head. He really didn’t want to talk about this now, not here. Nathan frowned, about to ask another question but Wade pushed passed him. “We going or what?”

“Yeah, of course,” he said, following Wade outside. It suddenly seemed to him that Wade couldn’t believe he had such a convenient excuse to leave the house. Like he was trying to escape. He even got in Nathan’s car without being coerced, a big improvement on the day before. Maybe today wasn’t going to be about teen angst; he would certainly welcome that. He sat in the driver’s seat, looking over in time to see Wade fixing his hair in the mirror.

“Who are you prettying yourself up for?” He grinned.

“Just you,” Wade replied shortly, completely deadpan. It made Nathan’s grin falter.

“Wh-what?” He prayed he wasn’t blushing.

“Wow,” Wade said after a couple of seconds, completely surprised. “You’re really easy to fuck with. Take it easy, I promise I’m not trying to get into your pants.” _Yet_ , he thought.

“I was just worried thinking of what Logan might say if he heard a clumsy flirt like that,” Nathan replied taking a long breath.

“You wouldn’t tell him I was flirting with you, would you?” Wade asked, feeling a little betrayed.

“No but I wouldn’t put it passed Logan to have my car bugged to make sure we didn’t. Now, where do you wanna eat?”

“Mickey D’s. Why? You gay?”

“I… don’t have a specific preference for gender.”

“You like who you like? Same,” Wade nodded. “We kids are calling it pansexual these days, by the way.”

“Wade I’m only about three years older than you,” Nathan gave a withered sigh.

“That’s still old.”

“You buying your own lunch?” He asked sharply.

“Uhh, no?”

“Then I’m not old.”

They arrived at McDonald’s five minutes later, going through the drive through, rather than sitting inside the restaurant. There was more privacy in the car; not that Wade felt they needed privacy but he could tell Nate was getting ready for a heart to heart. He could tell by the way the man was staring out the front wind screen, his French fry held between two salted fingers going cold fast, as McDonalds fries are wont to do. He groaned inwardly. He didn’t need or want another lecture about how he was dealing with his mom’s death. He knows he’s not dealing well, he doesn’t need to be told. He tried to look busy with his drink and his chicken nuggets until Nathan drew a breath, making Wade roll his eyes. Nathan frowned, taken aback.

“What?”

“You’re going to lecture me.”

“I—well, I hadn’t planned it to be a lecture.”

“I’ll do it for you, okay?” Wade straightened his shoulders and blew his fringe off his face. He put on a deep voice. “You shouldn’t be skipping school. You can’t let your mother’s death get you down. This can’t rule your life, Wade. Stop drinking. Stop smoking. Stop this and that, and go to school and graduate. Everything in your life will turn out great if you just go to school. Oh, and beating the other kids up? That’s bad. Don’t do that. _Especially_ don’t hit Logan. He’ll hit you back next time.”

Nathan just laughed. “You’ve got me all figured out, huh?”

“You social worker type people have all the same shit to say. Though the McDonalds hangover food is a nice change.”

Nathan shook his head. “I’m not going to tell you to stop doing anything, Wade. I’m just here to make sure you have someone to talk to.”

“And tell me again what your qualifications are?”

“I lost my mom too.”

Wade paused, mid-chew. “Oh.” He remembered Nathan saying he’d lost a family member. How the fuck did he always manage to land himself in the only shit pile for miles around? His father would _love_ this.

“Yeah,” said Nathan, slurping his drink.

They sat in silence for a long time; only the sounds of chewing and slurping interrupted it. It wasn’t an awkward silence though. An onlooker could almost see the sense of camaraderie beginning to build. They sat there for a long time, looking at each other every once in a while, nodding slightly when they remembered Nathan’s answer. But Wade could never stay silent for too long; ninety seconds was about all he could manage on a good day.

“How?”

“She just got sick all of a sudden. Thought it was Alzheimer’s, but… yeah it was worse. She found out she was sick not long after my eighth birthday, and she died before I turned nine.”

“What was it?” Wade asked, quietly. He’d never talked to anyone even remotely like him, he was always too weird, always an outcast to the rest of his peers. Always in trouble, always with an injury, always too dishevelled to fit in even with the hipsters. It seemed like everyone considered him the next school shooter, especially now with the rumours that he’d killed his mom. It wasn’t nice talking about the death of Nathan’s mother, but it was somehow comfortable.

“It uhh, CJD. Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. Caught too late, not that it would have mattered.”

Wade nodded, pretending he understood. He understood the loss at any rate, something they both shared. The feeling was weird as shit. _Wow, am I_ that _emotionally stunted?_ Wade found himself thinking.

“Different situations though,” Nathan said after clearing his throat.

“Yeah but…” Wade trailed off. What do you say after a confession like that? Nathan didn’t seem too bothered about the awkward vibes the teen was radiating.

“Good talk?”

“Uh yeah, good talk.”

“Sorry for bringing down the mood, but you _did_ ask.”

“Yup, brought that on myself, I know.”

Nathan laughed and started the car. “Just needed a sob story to shut you up, right? Coz Jesus, Wade when you get talking—” he whistled.

Wade snorted. “Yeah you’re not the first who’s said that.”

They started driving around town, going nowhere in particular. It was nice, especially after the talk they had had. There was suddenly a trust there. Wade found himself growing quiet every time he noticed how easily he was able to talk to Nathan. He felt like he had uncrossed his arms after a very long time, like he was breathing easier. They got stuck in traffic and Nathan looked at him, asking him the question he knew had been coming.

“Do you want to talk about your mom?” Nathan asked, obviously not expecting much of an answer. He was right.

“Not much to say. There was a fire. I got out. She didn’t.”

Nathan cursed inwardly. Wade was clamming up. “Where was your father?”

“Away.”

Nathan nodded, “okay. Sorry Wade, too soon?”

“A little,” Wade said, lighting up a cigarette. He pushed his dark hair out of his face and rolled down the window. He was quiet for a long time, then suddenly… “Just hate that it’s the only thing people want to talk to me about nowadays. Like it’s the only interesting thing about me. I do MMA, I can tap out a beat on the drums, I’m hil _ari_ ous, and all they want to hear about is how my mom died. See if I really killed her. Though pyromania could be pretty interesting, if people didn’t think I—” he couldn’t repeat what people thought of him. He was seventeen, how could anyone think he killed someone, let alone his own mother.

“Funny, all Logan talked about was how good you are at languages,” Nathan shrugged.

Wade tilted his head at him, clearly confused. “He… he told you that?”

“Says you know three and are learning ASL. What three are they?”

“French, Spanish, and German.” He couldn’t believe Logan had anything good to say about him. He and Logan had always been at loggerheads. When had the man even had time to look at his report cards when he was writing him up for detentions every time he was in.

“So you can chatter on in four languages and are learning a fifth? There’ll be no shutting you up now.”

“My mom is French Canadian, from Quebec,” he said realising as soon as he said it that he talked about his mother in the present tense. He cursed himself. “She taught me French. Spanish was easy after that, and German is practically the same as English so…”

“You got that ear for language. You could go far with that.”

He smiled to himself, fiddling with the cigarette box on his lap. Nathan noticed. Wade wasn’t used to getting praise, it was plain as day. Nathan had noticed from meeting Mr Wilson earlier that day that Wade probably wasn’t getting that much affection or from the look of the teen’s room, much discipline either. Wade was allowed to do what he wanted to do all day every day, and it wasn’t doing him any good, especially considering his truancy from school. The only activity he was on time for every single time was the Mixed Martial Arts that was held by one of the substitute teachers in his high school. The teacher even gave Wade extra classes on Logan’s request so the teen would be under some kind of supervision.

An alarm went off in Nathan’s pocket, alerting him to go to college. He shut off the alarm. If he looked at Wade a millisecond sooner, he would have seen his shoulders fall, knowing their time together was coming to an end. He tried not to feel betrayed, knowing he couldn’t stay with Nathan all day. He’d enjoyed their time together, especially their heart to heart about Nate’s mom as awful as it was. He felt like he could lean on Nathan, that maybe he could start talking about the shit he’s been through.

“I have to go to college, Wade. Can I—”

“I’ll get out here, thanks.”

It was like Wade had shrunk back into the moody teenager he was known to be. It was almost sad to see as he stepped out of the car. There was no semblance of the smile that had been on his face only minutes before. He pulled his hood up, despite the clear sky and trudged away. Nathan almost parked and followed him, maybe go for more food, but another alarm went off. This one alerting Nathan to the fact he only had five minutes to make a fifteen minute journey. When he looked up again, Wade was gone.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This depiction is mainly on the Irish police system so if there are any inconsistencies that's why.  
> Enjoy  
> xx

It was 3 o’clock in the morning. The clubs were closing, people in fancy dress for Halloween were filing out into the street. The sound of laughter and banter filled the air, along with the smell of greasy French fries and take out. People were chattering animatedly as they walked home or to taxis. Wade rarely had money to pay for how much he liked to drink and opted for stealing other people’s drinks. Right now, he had a bottle of Budweiser in one hand and a mystery bottle of cider in the other. The person who had been drinking it had clearly been bored, seeing as they had ripped off the label.

He was wandering home, taking his time. There was no rush. His father had gone… somewhere. He used to vanish for days at a time since Wade was a young child, and since his mother’s death, nothing had changed. Wade didn’t know where he went and didn’t care. He enjoyed these times when he knew he could relax. Wade always presumed his father was cheating on his mom, but now that his father continued disappearing after his mother’s death and Wade knew he wouldn’t hide a girlfriend, he couldn’t think where his father could be. Knowing Winston Wilson like he did, the man was probably paying to get his rocks off.

It didn’t matter tonight though. Tonight, his plan was to get laid. Let off some steam. He’d been rejected a few times that night. He had to admit he didn’t blame them, he knew he was an acquired taste and came on a bit strong. His plan wasn’t going that well due to the fact it was the end of the night, and it seemed he was going home alone. That is until a girl who had blown him off earlier caught up to him and put her arm around his waist, forcing him to stop. Not that he needed forcing.

“Where you going, you?” she asked. Wade looked around to see who it was. It was the girl who had turned him down at the start of the night. She had that model-esque figure, the type you saw in the magazines, with long flowing dyed silver hair. It practically glowed under the streetlights.

“Home,” he said, a small smirk growing. “Well I was. Vanessa, right?”

“Oh, what a gentleman, remembering my name,” she had her own smirk, but there was something behind it. Anxiety maybe? Maybe she wasn’t used to picking up her own men. Wade put it to the back of his mind. If it turned out she was just too drunk and that was the reason she was talking to him, he just wouldn’t go home with her. Simple. “I had second thoughts about you, and third thoughts when I saw that slut Theresa climbing all over you. But you got rid of her, did you?”

“Oh, Tess is okay,” he shook his head, keeping the smile, but she slapped him lightly on the chest. He held himself feigning injury. “Ouch! Come on, Vanessa, she’s alright. Don’t be calling her names!”

“Wow, you _are_ a gentleman,” she said and laid a kiss on his cheek. She went on her tip toes, despite her high heels. Wade hadn’t noticed how small she was compared to him. Her personality made her seem a full foot taller than she actually was. She linked arms with him and they started walking. “But let’s not talk about Theresa. You’re with me now, right?”

“Of course.” He looked around. “You out alone? I thought you had friends you were dancing with.”

She just shrugged and waved a hand. “Forget about them. They were holding me back from having fun.”

Wade laughed and put his arm around her waist instead, pulling her closer. She wasn’t acting overly drunk, putting Wade more at ease. He wasn’t going to put her in any kind of position that would make her regret going home with him. “Before we go somewhere, you wanna ring them and tell them you pulled? Make them jealous?”

“I’ll just Snapchat a pic of us and they’ll see that,” she winked and pulled her hair over her shoulder, getting ready to take her picture. Wade mimicked her, pretending to priss himself up in a shop window. She laughed and hit him. “Oh, stop it and get in the picture.”

She held the phone up and pulled him into a kiss for the picture, but the kiss went on, deepening as Vanessa pushed him up against the shop window. Wade’s hands went to her waist and pulled her close, unaware that all the while she was still filming. She stepped back and licked her lips, uploading the parts of the video she enjoyed most. When she looked up from her phone, she gave that small smirk that Wade was starting to really enjoy.

“Well, are we going?” she asked, linking arms with Wade again.

They started talking, flirting as they walked down the street, heading towards a take away that sold the best kebabs in town. The best food after a night out. Vanessa ordered for both of them, embarrassing Wade as he took out his very near empty wallet. “Its fine, Wade, I’m hungry so I’ll buy them.” Wade gritted his teeth and gave a smile with a nod. He wasn’t going to allow any shame to show on his face over this. Instead they sat on the curb of the pavement, eating their kebab and chatting. Vanessa made a face at the tomato buried at the bottom of the kebab, Wade took it, they laughed. Their impromptu date was going rather well until someone kicked the kebab out of Wade’s hands. Wade was on his feet in an instant, turning on his kebab’s attacker.

“Who the fuck do you think you are?” An older teenager said, pushing Wade back into the street. Taxis slammed on the breaks and horns roared. The man followed Wade, stepping onto the road. “That’s my fucking girlfriend!”

“She didn’t mention a having a douche-canoe like you on her arm,” Wade smirked, ignoring the cars and everyone gather around them. He did look for Vanessa though, spotting her walk back into the kebab shop to buy another can of coke; she didn’t give a shit. It was only when a fist connected with his jaw, did his attention come back to where it was supposed to be. He fell back a couple of steps, but kept standing. He spat blood and raised his fists.

“She ain’t interested in you!” The man said before laughing. “Look at you, you think you can fight me! I’ve got a fucking foot on you, you little shit.”

Wade’s smirk widened, taking a second to appreciate the moment. He loved it when he was underestimated. Story of his life he knew, but when he _knew_ he had the advantage, it only took a sweet second to savour the imminent doom of the person in front of him. He twisted and brought his foot up, kicking the older teen full force in the chest. He would have fallen but his friends caught up and kept him upright. He swore and dived for Wade, pushing him onto the bonnet of one of the cars, punching Wade as hard as he could. Wade pulled his arms as hard as he could, before throwing his elbow into the other teen’s face, breaking his nose.

Before the other man could roar in pain, he was pulled of Wade, Wade pulled the other way. Wade felt cold metal clamp around his wrists making him swear. He knew all too well the feeling of handcuffs.

“At it again, Wilson?”

“You know me, Mitchell.”

Mitchell steered him towards the police cruiser, putting his hand on Wade’s head as he sat in. Wade spat another mouthful of blood before the officer closed the door. Wade watched as the other teen was loaded into a different car, finally unblocking the street. The crowd gathered was moved on and Wade caught sight of Vanessa. She raised her can of coke at him as Mitchell started to pull into traffic.

 ***

“Wade, you know I can’t let you go home without your dad coming to collect you!”

“And I told you, I don’t. Know. Where. He. Is. He’s away.”

Wade was sitting on the concrete slab that acted as a bed or a bench in the cell. Mitchell was getting more and more frustrated with him. The cop only wanted to free up the cell, but because Wade was a minor, he couldn’t let the kid go unless an adult came and picked him up. After Wade’s mother was killed, Wade was brought in as a witness, and it took another three days to get a hold of his father which had meant sending Wade to a temporary care home until his father was found. Mitchell knew Wade’s father was subpar at best but this was still frustrating.

“Away _where_?”

“Holy shit, I don’t know! He goes out of town every once in a while and doesn’t bring his cell. I don’t know how to say it clearer.”

Mitchell scrubbed a hand over his face. “Is there anyone else?”

Wade looked away for a long moment, flipping coins in his head on whether to answer or not. If he didn’t give Mitchell a number, he’d be here until his dad came home, and who knew when that would be. He sighed heavily and called out a number that he knew off by heart. Hopefully they wouldn’t be too mad at him…

***

“Your ride is here,” Mitchell said and opened the cell door.

Wade stood and pulled his jacket on. He took a breath before leaving the cell. The older teen noticed him leaving and started shouting and banging on the cell door.

“Hey what the fuck?! You’re letting him out?!”

Wade grinned and turned around, walking backwards. “They only let the winner out. Don’t drop the soap.” He winked at him, leading to more shouts and protests.

In the foyer of the police station, Wade stopped in his tracks. Nate was looking at him, hands in his pockets, more disappointed in him that Wade could imagine. He wasn’t used to people feeling disappointed in him. His father would just look angry. His mom looked sad. There had never been any disappointment because Wade getting into trouble was par for the course in raising him. Logan was often disappointed in him, expecting more of the student because he knew that the kid was capable of more. It frustrated Logan to know end watching the kid shrug as if his future was worth nothing. It never mattered to him. Wade’s eyes widened when Nathan walked over to touch Wade’s jaw, tilting his head to the side, getting a good look at the black eye forming. Wade couldn’t meet his eyes. That look of disappointment usually washed right off him, but Nathan could barely look to him, never mind talk to him. Just a “come on” as he led the way to the car. They were in the car nearly fifteen minutes before Wade spoke.

“I’m sorry…” He said, looking at his hands in his lap, picking at his nails.

“Yeah, I know,” Nathan replied, keeping his eyes front and on the road. It was another five minutes before he spoke again. “The officer said your father is out of town. We’re going to your house so you can grab some—”

“You don’t have—”

“ _We’re going to your house_ , and you’ll grab some clothes and you’ll stay with me. Until your father comes home.”

“You’re not going to tell him, are you?” Wade asked after a moment.

Nathan gripped the steering wheel tighter as he turned into Wade’s estate, not speaking until he’d parked in front of Wade’s house. “I don’t know yet. Just get your shit.”

They both got out of the car and Wade opened the door to the cold, empty house. Nathan stayed in the front hall while the teenager went upstairs. Wade grabbed his school bag and emptied it onto his unmade bed. He took his time packing it, trying not to think about Nathan and the information the older man now had on him. If Nathan told his father that he’d been arrested- again- and his father got a hold of him… Wade physically shivered. It didn’t bear thinking about. If he could just get around Nate, then maybe he wouldn’t tell.

He wondered if Nathan hated him for this. Having to get someone out of police holding is a big thing, and though he and Nathan had known each other for just over two months, it was a little early in their friendship for dealing with the other being arrested. _Fuck_ … For all his bravado of being arrested for the fifth time in so many years, he really didn’t want to lose Nathan. Not over this.

“Wade?”

“Yeah, I’m coming.”

The next car ride was just as silent as the previous one. Wade crossed his arms, practically hugging himself, not even brave enough to light up a cigarette. He sighed as Nathan parked in his driveway. It was a big house, but Wade knew Nathan shared the house with four other housemates who also attended the university in town. It was too expensive to rent his own place in town, but Nathan had an en suite, so he was content to stay here as long as was necessary. It was just past four thirty in the morning as they stepped inside. There was a moaning coming from one of the bedrooms upstairs, the hum of the refrigerator in the kitchen and the slow tick tick tick of the radiators around the house. Even this early in the morning, this house had life. No wonder Nathan enjoyed it.

Nathan showed Wade into the sitting room and pulled the sofa out from the wall, folding it out into a small bed. The sitting room was rather small, the sofa bed taking up most of the space usually reserved for the coffee table. Nathan pulled out blankets and a pillow from under the stairs and gave them to Wade, all in silence. He took them one by one from Wade and made up the bed. Wade put his backpack on the floor at the foot of the bed.

“You’ll stay here for tonight,” he whispered so he wouldn’t wake anyone up. He pointed at the door leading to a converted garage. “My room is across the hall, through that door. We’ll talk about tonight when everyone’s left.”

He made to leave the room but Wade stopped him by grabbing the sleeve of his shirt. “Thanks, Nate.”

Nate gave a small smile, a tired one, but still genuine. “No problem, Wade. Just don’t make this a habit.”

“I won’t.”

 


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Life has been tough this summer. It's all I can say.  
> Enjoy x

It was the third day at Nathan’s house and Wade’s father still hadn’t come home. Despite Wade telling Nathan repeatedly that he was fine, that this wasn’t the first time this had happened, Nathan refused to let Wade go home, save to grab more clothes. It was morning, light creeping through a small gap in the sitting room’s curtains, shining right into Wade’s eye. He rolled over and gave a huff. Once he was awake he could never go back to sleep. Stupid bodyclock. He had MMA practise today though. Practise was five times a week now that a meet was coming up and it filled up a lot of his time, meaning his drinking and general debauchery were curtailed for now. He just didn’t have time for anything else except to shower, sleep and nurse bruises. Nathan worried (Wade was sure that was his default setting) but he could tell Wade was happier with something to do, when he had a goal.

 

Wade shook his head as he thought about Nathan. The thought of someone worrying about him warmed him in a weird way. It didn’t remind him of home or anything mushy like that, not even his mom paid that much attention to him when she was alive. His dad was usually MIA, so he didn’t give a shit, so having someone around just checking in on him… Oh god was he thinking of Nate as a parent?

 

“Ew?” he said aloud at himself. Nathan was too hot to be a parent. Way too hot. Like sculpted Greek god, hot. Who had the right to be that good looking and be that nice at the same time? Wade’s hand moved down his chest to his cock, pushing the blankets down a bit. He started to slowly stroke himself as his mind wandered as it had so many times in the weeks previously. To Nate. Nathan goddamn Summers. He sighed, kicking his head back on his pillows as his hand started to speed up a little.

 

“Ugh, fuck…” he moaned quietly, turning his face into the pillow, pulling on his hair with his other hand imagining it was Nate. He imagined Nate slowly teasing him as he jerked him off, pulling his hair, nipping his neck, a little light choking, normal stuff, before moving his mouth lower on Wade’s body until his lips closed around Wade’s cock, sucking him down.

 

“Oh my god, Nate…”

 

“Did you call me?”

 

Wade gasped and pulled the blankets frantically around himself as the door opened and Nathan stood at the end of his bed. His cheeks were burning; he was breathing heavily. Nathan just looked at him. Wade looked back, eyes wide.

 

“Where you…? Oh. Um. I’ll come back later,” Nathan stammered, blushing hard. He practically tripped over himself leaving the room, closing the door behind him. Wade let out a breath he hadn’t realised he’d been holding and put his head in his hands in utter embarrassment.

 

“Oh my-- are you serious?!” he whispered to himself. He kicked the blankets off himself and hastily pulled on some clothes, following Nathan out into the kitchen. “Look Nate--”

 

“I think you need to go home,” Nathan said, flicking on the kettle, not looking at him.

 

Wade blinked. “What? Why?”

 

“Coz we can’t do this, Wade,” Nathan sighed.

 

Wade couldn't help but take a step back. He looked around himself for some kind of help. Had he messed up that badly? "Listen I--"

 

"No, Wade," Nathan shook his head, still not looking at him. Wade could feel the breath go cold in his chest. "Just go. It'd be better if you just… just go."

It was like time slowed down to a crawl for Wade. He felt the sorrow, the guilt wash over him, making him look around the empty room again, desperate for something, anything to help him. Finding nothing, everything turned to pure, unadulterated anger. "Well fuck you too, Nate!" He shouted and stormed out of the room.

 

Nathan finally turned around to see the door slam shut. He followed Wade, not really knowing how to explain why he was following him in the first place. It’s what you do, right? When someone is mad, you follow them and either sort it out or wait until it peters out. But nothing was going to be sorted out. Nathan followed Wade into the living room to see him haphazardly pack his bag and push roughly passed him.

 

"Wade, wait--"

 

"No fuck you Nate. You said go, I'm going. Leave me the fuck alone," he shouted as he slammed the front door in Nathan's face. He walked quickly down the road, hood pulled up to protect him from the rain. He was drenched in minutes, but he didn't care. He couldn't remember ever feeling this angry, this betrayed. It was one mistake! It had been a big mistake but it had just been one! He was seventeen! Seventeen year olds masturbate!

 

He found himself suddenly standing in front of his house with no memory of the last eight miles. He fished his keys out of his pocket and shouldered the door open, desperate for some alone time, only to be greeted with the sound of simpering laughter. Female laughter.

 

"Fuck," he swore under his breath as he closed the door. The laughter stopped and the sitting room door opened, his dad standing in the doorway, looking surprised to see him.

 

"What?" Wade said, dropping his bag on the floor and pulling off his wet hoodie. "I live here too."

 

"Yeah you're gonna need to go," Wade's father said, letting the door swing open behind him, revealing two very scantily clad women drinking wine on the sofa. Wade looked at them with utter contempt.

 

"What, you're actually paying for it now?" Wade snapped, knowing his father wouldn't hurt him in front of witnesses. "Guess your dick couldn't hold out any longer, could it? Did you only have the ten bucks on you, or?"

 

"Hey!" One of the hookers protested.

 

Wade's father grabbed his arm tightly and threw him outside, his bag following closely behind him. "Come back tomorrow," he said and made to shut the door but Wade stopped him.

 

"It's raining! Where the fuck am I supposed to go?!" He demanded.

 

His father fisted the front of his tshirt and pulled him in close with a sneer. "Hell if I care," he whispered and pushed Wade away into the rain, shutting the door and locking it. One of the hookers hung out the living room window and threw a ten dollar note onto the ground.

 

"My pay," she giggled and shut the window. Wade looked at the note getting wet on the ground and weighed up in his head whether he was too prideful to pick it up. He looked at it for a long time before picking it up, swearing when he heard the roars of laughter coming from the house. He walked down the street. He didn't know where he was going but it was definitely away from here.


	6. Chapter 6

Seeing no other way around it, he spent the night in his dad's car that was parked outside, the window cracked open half an inch so he could smoke. He swore to himself every time he felt a shiver pass through him, his damp clothes doing nothing to keep him warm. He turned the radio on and curled up in the backseat. Killing the battery of the car was the last thing on his mind. He just wanted to drown out the sound of nothingness in the car. It had been so quiet he could hear the cigarette ash hiss as it hit the wet ground outside. He rested his head on his arm and gave a full body shudder as the wet t-shirt settled on his back. He was not looking forward to tomorrow.  
  
  
He jerked awake as his phone beeped, signalling low battery. 8am. His clothes were dry now, but he felt awful. Stiff. Foggy. But god, was he hungry. If he went to school now, he could get the free breakfast programme that Logan had set up last year. He sat up slowly with a groan and opened the car door, the cool morning air hitting him like a brick wall.   
  
  
"Fuck..." he sighed as he got out, rubbing his arms to fend off the cold. He looked over at the house, wondering if he could grab his bag and a change of clothes for school but he quickly decided against it. The last thing he wanted to see, the one thing worse than going to school feeling like shit and smelling of damp, was seeing his dad's face this early in the morning. He wished this had been the first time his dad had made him sleep in the car, but it had been the first time he'd done it this late in the year. He started walking slowly to school, sniffling, trying to clear his head. He lit up a smoke and inhaled, taking a second before exhaling. If he had menthol cigarettes, at least they would clear his sinuses.   
  
  
He arrived at the school and walked straight to the canteen, picking up a tray. Everyone was looking at him like he was mad, wearing only a tshirt in November. He took no notice. He wasn't in the mood. He just wanted food, whatever was on offer as long as it was warm.   
  
  
"Is there any porridge left?" he asked, his voice raspy from not using it.   
  
  
"Sorry, hun, breakfast is over," the canteen lady said without looking around from piling dishes into the dishwasher.   
  
  
"What? Class isn't for another--"  
  
  
"Five minutes, hun. It's five past nine," she replied. She sounded apologetic but Wade couldn't tell if she was putting it on because she still hadn't turned around. But where had the time gone?? It only took half an hour to get to school normally. What had happened? Maybe he was sicker than he thought. He swore and threw the tray back onto the stack, a loud clatter sounding. He ignored the "hey!" and stormed off to his locker, hoping he'd left some food in it over the weekend. He turned the dial to the combination lock, blinking a couple of times to bring the tiny numbers into focus. What was his combination again? God, his head was so foggy, all he could think about was how nauseous he felt. The kind of nausea that could only be cured by eating. He hoped.   
  
  
"Five... Six... One... Three... Oh, thank fuck."   
  
  
He opened the locker and searched, finding only a completely gone off banana. He made a face. He wasn't that desperate. He tossed it into the nearby bin and grabbed a book for his next class. He hadn't been to history class in weeks. He couldn't see the point in learning things that had already happened. If they were learning about samurais or something cool, he might actually attend but the Treaty of Versailles held no interest to him. The teacher's seating plan was the only reason he was going now. His seat was right beside a heater that was broken, and always on. It was just what he needed right now. He took his seat, his teacher about to ask him about his homework but he sighed when he noticed Wade didn't even have his schoolbag with him. Whatever, it wasn't him who was failing. He proceeded to start up the projector, not even caring when Wade curled up against the radiator and closed his eyes.   
  
  
"Wilson? Wilson."  
  
  
A hand nudged his shoulder and he started wake. He looked around blurry eyed. "Wha'?"  
  
  
"Class is over, don't you have somewhere else to be?" The teacher said, turning his back to pack up his books into his satchel.  
  
  
Wade stood and rubbed his face of sleep. "Yeah..."  
  
  
"Listen, Wade, do you really think this is the best way for you to be spending your time? Sleeping your way through class when you bother to turn up at all? You'll never graduate at this-- and he's gone..." the teacher sighed and shook his head. He could only help if the kid actually wanted help. Trying to help when a kid only saw him as the adversary would only wear him down in the long run and he had other students who actually cared about wanting to graduate. Wade was capable, every teacher in this school knew it. But ever since his mother had died... no, even before that, Wade had never shown any interest, instead causing trouble or just plain not turning up at all. This couldn't all be blamed on the death of his mother. It had gotten worse since then, but Wade had been a troublemaker long before that. The problem was that every teacher liked him. Wade had a charm about him that no amount of staff room chatter could pin down. It was just a pity that he never applied himself.   
  
  
**  
  
  
"Nathan? Nathan, are you with us?"   
  
  
Nathan blinked and looked up at his tutor blankly, realising that he was two pages behind everyone else, just staring out the window. Very unlike him. He mumbled a sorry and flicked over to the right page, and started highlighting, copying from his neighbour's book. Wade was on his mind. Ever since the teen had stormed out yesterday, Wade's hurt and betrayed face had been replaying in the back of his mind no matter what task he did to distract himself. Had he been right to send Wade away? Every bone in his body was screaming no, but he couldn't justify any other reaction to what had happened.   
  
  
_It was hot though..._   
  
  
No, no it wasn't. It was inappropriate and just, really unfortunate... He hadn't wanted to send Wade away but it was the only sane call for the situation. They couldn't date. They just couldn't. It went against the entire idea of the society he was a part of.   
  
  
_Does it though?_  
  
  
The idea of the society was to help people and their platonic relationship was no doubt helping Wade. The teen clearly felt safe with him, considering he called him from the police station on Hallowe'en. Wade had never opened up about what had happened to his mom yet, but it was only a matter of time at this stage. He put his head in his hands. He really liked Wade. He really did. But only as a friend.  
  
  
 _Haha, no you don't._  
  
  
That does it. He looked at his watch. This class ended at five o'clock and Wade had MMA practice at six. If he caught Wade after his practice, after he'd blown off some steam, then maybe they could talk. Maybe they could fix this. He hated fighting with people, but Wade seemed to get at him more than most.   
  
  
**  
  
  
He took his seat on the benches surrounding the gym, waiting for Wade to come in. He'd been here for half an hour; he would have looked like a creep if not for his college work surrounding him. Noise of animated chatter started to emit from the changing room as five or six eighteen or nineteen year olds entered the gym, Wade following behind. Wade was obviously not a part of the crowd, being too young, but he dressed differently too. Where the others lads were wearing just shorts, red and black, the team colours, Wade was wearing a short sleeved t-shirt as well, covering the burns on his back and chest. It was clear the other members of the team, four boys and two girls, weren't excluding him exactly, but they weren't making any effort to include him in their banter either. One nudged Wade.  
  
  
"Not like you to be this quiet, Wilson, something on your mind?"  
  
  
"Just your mom from last night," Wade replied. It was a lazy comeback, making the older lad roll his eyes and turn away.   
  
  
With the coach's arrival, they started their warm up drills, first jump rope, burpees, then some quick stretches and finished with rolling their muscles out on foam cylinders. They repeated them over and over again until they were panting and sweating, groaning when the coach told them to start running for ten minutes around the gym. Wade refused to make eye contact with Nathan as he ran passed him but even so, Nathan couldn't help but watch in amazement. He was fit but he didn't think he could do that warm up and then run at full tilt for ten minutes and then still be expected to fight. Wade was unbelievably fit for someone his age.   
  
  
Wade was called up first along with a guy, Roberts, who was the same height and build as Wade. While they fought, the other fighters brought out the pads and started to practice their high kicks and punches. Nathan put his books away, more interested in watching Wade fight than anything else. He wondered if Wade really was as good as he said, or if it was all hot air. He watched Wade tighten his glove around his wrist and bring his fists up, fist-bumping Roberts before moving away slowly, lowering his fists slightly, clearly goading Roberts into attacking first. Roberts took the bait and moved in with a quick jab but Wade replied with a punch to the sternum before dancing back.   
  
  
"Come on Roberts, you gotta be quicker than that!" the coach shouted from the sidelines.   
  
  
But two minutes into the first round, Wade was starting to slow, getting caught out a couple of times earning him more and more chastisement from the coach on the other side of the ropes. At minute four, Wade took a second to wipe sweat from his brow just as Roberts twisted, bringing his shin into contact with the side of Wade's head. Wade went down hard, seeing stars, but not in much pain due to the adrenaline pumping through his system. He climbed to his feet, his hand going out to steady himself on the ropes as the coach called Roberts back. The back of his neck started to go cold, the feeling spreading all over his body until his vision finally and suddenly blacked out.   
  
  
"Wade?!" Nathan was up off his seat as Wade hit the ground again as if he'd been blown over by a gust of wind. The coach crouched down beside Wade, wondering if it was safe to move him into the recovery position. Nathan climbed through the ropes and fell to his knees. He could see Wade's breathing was quick and shallow.  
  
  
"I swear I didn't hit him that hard!" Roberts shouted from behind them.  
  
  
"Yeah I know, Roberts, go get the first aid kit and call the ambulance," the coach ordered. "Now, Roberts!"  
  
  
Meanwhile Nathan was feeling Wade's forehead, having brushed the hair off the teenager's face. "He's burning up..."   
  
  
The coach sighed and rolled Wade carefully into the recovery position, making him moan weakly. "This kid, I swear to God... Stay with him while I talk to the 911 operator."  
  
  
Meanwhile Wade started to stir, squeezing his eyes closed at the pain that was starting to blossom in his head. He groaned and started to push himself up off the mat. Nathan gently pushed him to lay back down, shushing him. "You fainted, Wade. Take it easy."  
  
  
Wade didn't have the strength to fight him, just groaned again and lay down, pushing his face into the mat. "What are you doing here?" he mumbled.  
  
  
"We'll talk about it later," Nate said quietly, stroking his hair. Wade couldn't help but lean into the touch, not used to such tenderness.   
  
  
"Is he awake?" Nathan nodded. "Yeah he's awake, but we still need that ambulance."  
  
  
"What? No, I'm fine," Wade protested pushing himself up again, this time managing to sit up. He put a hand to his head to try to stop it from swimming.  
  
  
"You know the policy, Wilson, get knocked out in a fight, you go to the hospital, otherwise we lose insurance," the coach replied, leaving no room for argument. Wade groaned and curled in on himself, leaning against Nathan as the only solid object near him.   
  
  
"What's going on with you?" Nathan asked. He could feel the fever radiating off of Wade; it was making him worried. Wade was fine when he had left the morning before. What had happened?  
  
  
"It's just a cold," Wade mumbled. "I'm fine."  
  
  
They didn't speak again until the ambulance arrived and still, not even then. The paramedics took his vitals and tried to put a neck brace on him, but Wade steadfastly refused and refused the gurney they brought out to him. "I've got a cold, I'm not dying." He walked into the back of the ambulance and the coach joined him, making sure Wade was at least not rude to the poor paramedics, but he needn't have worried. Wade was quiet, unusually quiet, holding his head as he sat, knowing that as soon as he got to the hospital, the coach was going to call his dad. Fuck...  
  
  
Nathan followed behind in his car, trying to make sense of all this. How an extremely fit teenager can go from being healthy one day to collapsing in the middle of a fight he's done thousands of times the next. None of it made sense.   
  
  
He arrived to find Wade sitting on a hospital bed, a plump, purple haired nurse putting a drip in his arm. The teenager looked absolutely miserable, rubbing at a small bruise appearing just below his eye from the last kick that had been delivered. Nathan sat on the bed beside him, giving him a little space but still close enough to feel the heat still coming off of Wade. He took Wade's hand down from the bruise.   
  
  
"What's that for?" Nathan asked, nodding to the needle.   
  
  
"Apparently I'm dehydrated," Wade replied with a mumble. He looked up at Nathan and asked again, "Why are you here?"  
  
  
"I'm going to call your father," the coach said, leaving them alone. He closed the curtains giving them a sort of faux privacy before Wade could protest.  
  
  
Nathan sighed and got off the bed, taking the coach's seat, and watched quietly as Wade lay back on the bed. Their eye contact never broke once. Wade was clearly waiting for an answer, but it took Nathan a moment to find his voice.   
  
  
"I was wrong... yesterday..." He started, finally looking away from Wade and down at his hands in his lap. "I don't think I've ever been more wrong about anything in my life. I was just... scared, I guess, of what Logan would say. Or anyone else. I just... I'm sorry." He looked up to see that Wade was looking down at the needle in his arm, hiding what was going on in his head. Nathan pulled his seat closer and touched Wade's hand, surprised when Wade's hand turned around so they could lace their fingers. "Can we start again? Please?" A small nod, but Wade still wasn't looking at him. "Can I kiss you?" That made Wade look up.  
  
  
Another nod, a small victorious smile on his face. He tilted his head up and felt Nathan's hot breath on his lips as he moved in to kiss him. Nathan's lips were soft and moved slowly over his, making him give a low moan into the kiss. It was Wade who finally deepened the kiss, his hand bunching in Nate's shirt, pulling him closer, dragging his teeth over Nate's lip. There was a sound of metal on metal that made them pull apart slightly, looking towards the sound. It was the curtains being pulled open, the purple haired nurse standing with a slight blush on her face.   
  
  
"You're wearing a heart monitor, dear," she said pointing to the machine that was beeping wildly in the corner. Nathan pulled away properly, smirking. Wade shot a glare at him as he pushed himself to sit up and straighten his t-shirt. The nurse smiled at them and left, leaving the curtain open this time.   
  
  
"You enjoyed that, huh?" Nathan grinned.   
  
  
"Oh shut up," Wade tried to snap at him, but couldn't keep the grin from his face. But it suddenly fell away, making Nathan follow his eyes to see his father standing at the end of the corridor. The tall man walked up, his face expressionless.   
  
  
"What's wrong with you, Wade?" he asked as he reached the curtain.   
  
  
"Nurse says I got the flu. Fainted at MMA practise."   
  
  
His father sighed, rubbing his temples, as if this was all an inconvenience. He put Wade's backpack on the bed, full of all the stuff he'd need. "Right, I'll collect you in the morning. If there's anything you need, call."   
  
  
And with that, his father turned on his heel to leave. Nathan looked at Wade, trying to tell what he was thinking, but Wade's face had gone strangely blank, going back to itching at his bruise. Nathan took his hand down again and held it.   
  
  
"You okay?"  
  
  
"Fine, me and dad had a fight yesterday and... yeah, that's all," he said and shook his head and gave a smile, changing the subject. "I'm tired, gonna try and sleep. Will you be here when I wake up?"  
  
  
"Of course, I will," Nathan said, stroking his cheek. Wade lay down, Nathan keeping his hand under his cheek, long after Wade had fallen asleep.  
  
  
  
  
  



End file.
